Improvement in fishing-nets



' come on i genital tant SMITH HARPER, 0F LEIPERSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

i Y Letters Patent No. 83,493, `dated October 27, 1868.

IMIROVEMENT IN FISHING-NET$ To all '1A/'hochl it 'ma/y concern: g

Be it known that I, SMITH HARPER, of Leipers-l ville, in the county of Delaware, and `in the State of Pennsylvania, havev invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fishing-Nets; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my .invention consists in the construe tion and generalV arrangement of a fishing-net, which 'will be hereinafter more `fully set forth; and-also in the use of balls instead of leads or rings for sinking the net.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I

will now proceed to describe its construction 'and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, which form a part of this specification.

I construct a net, A, the bottom of which is longer, say'about one-eighth, than the top, and fasten it to the cork and bottom line, in such a manner that the cork-line, B,has twice as many meshes to a tie as the bottom line O.

In the ordinary shing-nets, which are hung on ropes of equal size, strength, and length, on the cork-line and lead-line, when the net should be drifting in two currents, one fast and the other slow, the strain must the bottom as well as onthe top, which makes too tightv to gill a sh., 1 By making the bottom longer than the top, when the strain comes, it must all be on the cork-line, the bottom remaining slack enough to gill a fish, and tan gle it so that vit is sure to be caught. y

if the r et be drifting along `with the tide, and should come in contact with rock, stone, or anything that has weight enough to hold the net, my line will break and pass on, with a great deal less injury to the net than it wouldwith a line strong enough toyhold.

Instead of leads or rings I use balls, D D, which are round, oval, or oblong, made of metal, or other suitable material, and of such a size that they cannot be put through any of themeshes of the net on which they. are used.r When laying oii` the net, the balls being of a smooth surface, will easily roll to the bottom ofthe net.

The balls, when there is a'rough bottom 'in the river, Will roll and pass over, when rings would catch and hold fast.

cork-line B.

Having thus fully described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let- `ters Patent, isf- A fishing-net, constructed as described, longer at the bottom than at the top, and the Abottom line small andweak, and provided with bal1s,fsubstantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, l have hereunto-set my hand and seal, this 29th day of July, 1868. v

. SMITH HARPER. [1.. s.] Witnesses:

v` SILAs S. SAMPLE,

WILLIAM H. JoHNsoN.

, At the bottom of the net I use a smaller and vi'eakerV line than usual, which isbetter than a strong rope, for v Corks, E E, are attached by suitable ropes to the 

